The Black Foodie Summit

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A lack of attention isn’t only a problem for black restaurateurs, but it’s especially evident in that community.

Apollo Woods, in the guise of OKC Black Eats, spent the last year working on solutions for those restaurant owners, culminating in The Black Foodie Summit, 4-8 p.m. July 28 at the Ice Events Center & Grill, 1148 NE 36th St.

“I’ve been working on this for a little over a month, but I’ve been doing OKC Black Eats for, I guess it’ll be a year in a couple of weeks,” Woods said.

The passion project began when he returned to Oklahoma from Houston and found it difficult to find “the good food.”

“Even if you take away the ethnic makeup of the owners, one of the challenges in Oklahoma is just finding places,” he said. “I literally had to drive, going zip code by zip code, to try something new.”

Small restaurant owners are often so busy with the basics of running a business that they don’t do some small, low- or no-cost things to help grow the business.

At The Black Foodie Summit, Woods and guest speakers public relations pro Krystal Yoseph, Yelp OKC community director Julie Porter and Ice co-owner Marc Flemon will participate in a panel with broadcaster Nikki Nice from 4-5:15 p.m. discussing the steps small business owners can take to draw more attention and bring more customers through the door.

After the panels, attendees can visit with and sample foods from 13 local vendors, including Chef Curry To-Go, Taste of Soul Eggroll, Tipsy Treats food truck and other restaurants, personal chefs and caterers.

About the Author

Founder and Eater-in-Chief of I Ate Oklahoma, Greg Elwell has been reviewing restaurants and writing about Oklahoma’s food culture for more than a decade. Where a normal person orders one meal, this guy gets three. He is almost certainly going to die young and those who love him most are fairly ambivalent about it. You can email Greg at greg@iateoklahoma.com.